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Press, Volume CX, Issue 32361, 29 July 1970, Page 9

also equipped with a modulating device to help achieve simplicity and clarity of tone. The fundamental drawback of this instrument, however, was that the principle on which it worked—the plucking of strings limited its range of expression: like the harp, or guitar, for example. Christofori in 1707 developed the hammer action principle, making it possible to strike the strings with far greater force than was hitherto possible. Pressure on a key transmitted the force to a hammer which jumped up to strike a string. Through the use of leverage the hammer was made to jump up with much greater force than used to strike the key. Furthermore, it was possible to control the hammer's force through the force applied to strike the key. Hence, strong, sudden pressure would produce a loud sound, and light pressure a correspondingly softer sound. In other words, volume control was made possible. Christofori called his new instrument a Gravicembalo col piano e forte, meaning a cembalo that could produce both loud and soft sounds. This clumsy name was eventually abbreviated to the "piano” we know today. “Piano” refers to a weak sound, but incongruous as it seems, it is a name that has acquired universal usage. Certainly it is too late to change. The piano’s ' transformation continued from Mozart and Beethoven through to the middle of the 19th century, the. era of the romantic composers. By this time more than two additional octaves had been added to its keyboard, its mechanism had been further improved and its pedal system perfected. The traditional grand piano was supplemented in the 19th century by the domestic-type upright model, and the instrument’s popularity increased still further.